Apparatus for opening or closing railroad-switches.



No. 742,996.- I PATENTED NOV. 3, 1903. I. S. JONES & A. W. MGFARLAND. APPARATUS FOR OPENING 0R CLOSING RAILROAD SWITCHES.

I APPLICATION FILED FEB. 3, 1908.

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' N0. '742,996. PATENTEDNOV. 3, J. S. JONES & A. W. MOFARLAND. APPARATUS FOR OPENING 0R CLOSING RAILROAD SWITCHES.

APPLIGATION FILED FEB. 3, 1903.

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Patented November 3, 1903.

UNITED ST TES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHNATHAN' S. JONFS, OF WESTBEND, AND ARTHUR W. MCFARLAND, OF

SIOUX CITY, IOWA.

APPARATUS FOR OPENING OR CLOSING RAILROAD-SWITCHES.

:BPECIFICATIQN forming part of Letters Patent No. 742,996, dated November 3, 1903.

Application filed February 3, 1903. Serial No. 141,779. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, J OHNATHAN S. J ONES, residing at Westbend, Palo Alto county, and

ARTHUR W. MCFARLAND, residing at Sioux City, Woodbury county,'Iowa, citizens of the adapted in street-railways for opening and closing a switch in a railway-track by means of automatic mechanism connected with the track and switch-rail and mechanism carried by a car in such a manner that a person on the car can by means of foot-pressure adjust the devices carried by the car as required to contactwith the automatic switch-opening mechanism on the track to automatically .open the switch.

Our invention consists in the construction,

arrangement, and combination of elements and subcombinations, as hereinafter set forth,

pointed out in our claims, and illustrated in l 6, and as required to normally retain the the accompanying drawings, in whicli- Figure 1 is a topview of a section of a straight railway-track, a branch track, and a switch and switch-operating mechanism connected therewith and shows the single pivoted switch-rail in position as required to close the switch to allow a car to pass on the. straight track. Fig. 2 is an enlarged transverse sectional view of a metal box in' an inverted position and mechanism connected therewith for operating the pivoted switchrail by means of foot-pressure by a person on a car. Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the platform of a car and shows a spring-actuated telescopic wheel-bearer adapted for operating the switch mechanism by means of footpressure applied to the said bearer when the car is advancingon the straight track and is to be switched to the curved rails of the branch track. Fig. 4 is aside elevation of a car on a track and shows the spring-actuated wheel-bearer in a depressed position, as required, to engage a lever fulcrumed in the box under the track. Fig. 5 is an enlarged transverse sectional view of the box and 1ever shown under the track in Fig. 4, and dotted lines show the lever in position as required to be engaged by the wheel-bearer carried on the car. It also shows a fixed inclined plane adapted to be engaged by a wheel carried by the wheel-bearer, as required,

rail, a curved rail, a spring, a fixed guardrail, and a link havinga bridle at one end for connecting the free end portion'of the pivoted switch-rail with a lever, as shown in Fig. 2.

The numerals 10 and 12 designate the parallel fixed rails of a main track, and 13 is a switch-rail pivoted to the main-track rail. A side track composed of curved fixed rails 14 and 15 extends laterally from the straight main rails 10 and 12. A guard-rail 16 is fixed in parallel position with the main-track rail 12 and extends along the inside of the said rail. A guard-rail 17 is fixed in an inclined position inside of the track-rail 10, as shown in Fig. 1. A leaf-spring a is fixed to the plate 16 to engage the switch-rail, as shown in Fig.

ment with the covers 20 and 21 and curvedv guide-bars 23 and 24, formed on or fixed to the topof the plate, as required, to direct a wheel-bearer carried on a car to enter and pass through the open space between the two covers 20 and 21. An inclined plane 25 in a fixed position, as shown in Fig. 5, is in alinement with open space between the covers 20 and 21. r

The cover 20 is provided with an inclined slot 26, and at the inner end of the slot is fulcrumed a bell-crank lever 27, and to the under side of the cover 20 is pivoted an elbowshaped lever 28 and connectedflwith the bellcrank lever by a link 29, as shown in Fig. 2, or in any suitable way in such a manner that the two levers will be operated jointly, as re- IOU quired, to adjust the switch-rail 13 whenever the switch is to be opened for passing a car from the main track to the branch rails or side track.

A link is pivoted to the end of the lever 28 and slidably connected with a fixed stud 31 on the under side of the switch-rail 13 by means of a bridle in the link, as shown in Fig. 2.

A wheel bearer composed of telescopic tubes 32 and 33 is slidably connected with the platform of a car by means of a box 34, fixed under the platform, and a bearer 35, adjustably connected with the bottom of the box and provided with rollers 36 to facilitate the lateral motion of the wheel-bearer tubes 32 and 33. A coil-spring 37 is fixed to the bearer 34 and to a fixed post 38, as shown in Fig. 3, or in any suitable way, as required, to

normally retain the wheel-bearers perpendicular. The adjustable bearer is fixed to the tube 33, so the wheel-bearer can move laterally through an opening in the bottom of the box 34. A coil-spring 39 in the bearer 35 normally retains the tube 32 elevated.

An extension 40, slidably connected with the lower end of the tube 32, carries a wheel 41,

and a coil-spring 42 in the tube normally retains the wheel-carrier 4O depressed. The top of the tube 32 has a fixed plate 43 and a post 44, having a fixed top 45, and a roller 46 in its lower end is adapted to be depressed by the operators foot, as required, to press the wheel-bearer down through the open space between the two covers 20 and 21, as required, to engage the free end of the lever 28 and actuate the bell-crank lever 27 and raise its long arm into an upright position, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 5, to be engaged by the wheel-bearer carried by a car as the car is.

advanced on the track, and when the lever 27 is thus elevated the enlarged lower part thereof, that has a curved edge, will engage the lever 28, as shown in Fig. 2 and indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 5, in sucha manner that it will retain the switch-rail13 in an open position until a bar 47, carried on the other end of the car, contacts with the elevated end of the lever 27 and turns it down to release the lever 28 and to allow the spring 18 to press the switch-rail into its normal closed position, as shown in Fig. 1. The bar 47 is detachably connected with the car, so that when there is one or more cars in a train the bar can be placed on the rear end of the rear car.

Having thus described the purpose of our invention, the construction and function of each element and subcombination, the practical operation and utility thereof will be obvious to persons familiar with the art to which it pertains, and

I What we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an apparatus for opening and closing a railway-switch, parallel straight rails, parallel curved rails, a pivoted spring-actuated switch-rail, a chamber between the'trackrails, covers fixed over the chamber and an open space between the two covers, a bellcrank lever fulcrumed under one of the covers, a slot in the cover and means for projecting the one end of the lever upward through said slot, arranged and combined to operate in the manner set forth for the purposes stated.

2. In an apparatus for opening and closing a railway-switch, parallel straight rails, parallel curved rails, a pivoted spring-actuated switchrail, a chamber between the trackrails, covers fixed over the chamber and an open space between the two covers, a bell crank lever fulcrumed under one of the covers, a slot in the cover and means for projecting the one end of the lever-upward through said slot and a bar carried on the rear end of a car for turning down the upwardly-projected end of the lever, arranged and combined to operate in the manner set forth for the pur poses stated.

3. In an apparatus for opening and closing a railway-switch, a cover on a chamber between the straight track-rails, a slot in the cover, a bell-crank lever f ulcru med to the under side of the cover to extend upward through the slot, an elbow-shaped lever pivoted to the under side of the cover, a link connecting the two levers, a link pivotally connected with one end of the elbow-shaped lever and provided with a bridle at its end, in combination with a pivoted switch-rail and mechanism carried on a car for operating the said levers, in the manner set forth for the purposes stated.

4. In an apparatus for opening and closing a railway-switch, a cover on a chamber be tween the straight track-rails, a slot in the cover, a bell-crank lever f ulcrumod to the under side of the cover to extend upward through the slot, an elbow-shaped lever pivoted to the under side of the cover, a link connecting the two levers, a link pivotally connected with one end of the elbow-shaped lever and provided with a bridle at its end, in combination with parallel straight track-rails, curved branch rails, a pivoted switch-rail and mechanism carried on a car for operating the said levers in the manner set forth for the purposes stated.

5. In an apparatus for opening and closing a railway-switch, a cover on a chamber between the straight track-rails, a slot in the cover, an inclined plane under the cover in alinement with said slot, a bell-crank lever fulcrumed to the under side of the cover to extend upward through the slot, an elbowshaped lever pivoted to the under side of the cover, alink connecting the two levers, alink pivotally connected with one end of the elbow-shaped lever and provided with a bri- (110 at its end, in combination with parallel straight track-rails, curved branch rails, a pivoted switch-rail and mechanism carried on a car for operating the said levers in the manner set forthfor the purposes stated.

6. An apparatus for opening and closing a railway-switch, two parallel straight rails, two curved rails, a spring-actuated switch-rail, a chamber between and below the parallel straight rails, two covers on the chamber and a vacant open space between them, an inclined slot in'one of said covers, a crank-lever fnlcrumed at the inner end of said slot, an elbow-shaped lever pivoted to the under side of the cover to extend across said inclined slot, a link connecting said two levers, a link having a bridle at one end connecting the elbow-shaped lever with the spring-actm ated switchrail, guard-rails inside of the track-rails, guide-bars midway between the track-rails for directing a wheel-bearer car- J OHNATHAN S. JONES. ARTHUR W. MCFARLAND.

Witnesses:

L. A. MARTIN, A. L. FRYE. 

